The latest leg of the global torch relay for the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games is now underway in Pyongyang, the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The Olympic flame arrived earlier on Monday in the DPRK by plane from South Korea.

Kim?Yong?Nam?(R?front),?president?of?the?Presidium? of?the?Supreme?People's?Assembly,?hands?the?torch? to?the?first?torchbearer?Park?Tu?Ik?at?the?launching? ceremony?of?the?Olympic?torch?relay?in?Pyongyang,? capital?of?the?Democratic?People's?Republic?of?Korea, on?April?28,?2008.?Pyongyang?is?the?18th?leg?of?the? 2008?Beijing?Olympic?Games?torch?relay. (Xinhua?Photo/An?Zhiping)

It's the Olympic torch's first-ever run through the DPRK.

A crowd of thousands watched the start of the relay on Monday morning.

The DPRK's top legislator, Kim Yong Nam, presided over the event.

Kim passed the torch to the first runner, Pak Du Ik, who played on the DPRK's 1966 World Cup soccer team that made a historic run to the quarterfinals.

The relay started beneath the large sculpted flame that tops the obelisk of the Juche Tower, a historic landmark in Pyongyang.

The relay is expected to last about five hours. The torch goes to Chongryu bridge, the Friendship Tower, Pyongyang Railway Station, and ends at the Kim Il Sung Stadium on Monday afternoon.

(CCTV April 28, 2008)